Saudi’s King Salman appoints new central bank governor

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has appointed Ayman bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Sayyari as the new governor of the central bank.

The appointment was made by virtue of a royal order, of which two were issued.

The second order, was to appoint the erstwhile governor Dr Fahd bin Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al-Mubarak as advisor to the royal court, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Dr Al-Mubarak served as a governor for the central bank, also known as SAMA, from 2011-2016 and was reappointed in 2021, by a royal decree.

#أمر_ملكي: يعفى معالي الدكتور / فهد بن عبدالله بن عبداللطيف المبارك محافظ البنك المركزي السعودي من منصبه، ويعين معالي الأستاذ / ايمن بن محمد بن سعود السياري محافظاً للبنك المركزي السعودي بمرتبة وزير.#واس pic.twitter.com/E3hOgIkKQR

— واس الأخبار الملكية (@spagov) February 2, 2023

Al-Sayyari holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals as well as a Master’s degree from George Washington University.

السياري يشكر القيادة على الثقة الملكية بتعيينه محافظاً لـ #البنك_المركزي_السعودي.https://t.co/Iua8gN3R3k#SAMA pic.twitter.com/WvwoGycUzL

— SAMA | البنك المركزي السعودي (@SAMA_GOV) February 2, 2023

Al-Sayyari began his career in the Saudi Industrial Development Fund as a financial analyst. In his most recent role, he was vice governor for investment and research at the Saudi Central Bank.

The central bank of the GCC’s largest economy, plays an important role in its monetary policy management. This week, it upped the rate of repurchase agreement (repo) by 25 basis points to 5.25 per cent, and the rate of reverse repurchase agreement (reverse repo) by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent.

#SAMA‘s Decision on Repo and Reverse Repo Rates.https://t.co/BwbnmOaG1E pic.twitter.com/p88Mmezb7A

— SAMA | البنك المركزي السعودي (@SAMA_GOV) February 1, 2023

The kingdom’s economy also grew by 8.7 per cent in 2022, while the International Monetary Fund expects it to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2023.

Read: Saudi Arabia’s economy grows by 8.7% in 2022